The present invention relates to the field of object dispensers and, in particular, to a dispenser for randomly dispensing objects and a method of playing a game, or performing a mathematical exercise. utilizing such a dispenser.
The manufacturing and sale of candy is a highly competitive business. The competitive nature of the business is demonstrated by the vast array of candy types and brands of the same type of candy that arc available in the marketplace. Because of the competitive nature of the business, candy manufactures invest significant sums of money on advertising and on promotional items in an attempt to gain name recognition for their products.
One company that has been particularly aggressive in its advertising and promotional activities has been Mars. Inc. of Hackettstown N.J. Mars, Inc., is the manufacturer and distributor of numerous candies, including MandM""s(copyright) Chocolate Candies, and has engaged in an ongoing advertising and promotional campaign for these candies. As part of this campaign, the company has purchased television advertisements featuring their candies in humanoid form, sponsored a NASCAR Winston Cup Series(copyright) racing team, and has operated a World Wide Web site at xe2x80x9cm-ms.comxe2x80x9d from which it sells a number of products bearing the MandM""s(copyright) logo""s and copyrighted images.
Among the products sold on the Mars. Inc., Web site are a number of activities and games. These activities and games all utilize non-candy facsimiles of the candies and humanoid candy characters featured in their television advertising and are directed to such activities as art, counting and pretending. Although these activities and games are successful at promoting the MandM(copyright) trademark and at raising the awareness of the product. they do not directly promote the sale of the candies themselves.
One way that the sale of candies is promoted by the Mars, Inc., is through the sale of candy dispensers. These dispensers come in a number of styles ranging from traditional xe2x80x9cgumballxe2x80x9d type dispensers, to dispensers featuring the humanoid candy characters in various poses. These dispensers will typically be filled with the candies dispense a handful of candies from a candy reservoir when they are actuated by a user. In this respect, these dispensers are successful at promoting the trademark and in directly promoting the sale of the candies themselves. However, children quickly become bored with a single function dispenser and, once emptied of its contents, the dispensers are unlikely to be refilled. In addition, these dispensers are fairly large in size and cannot be easily transported in a pocket, purse or backpack.
Therefore, there is a need for a children""s game or activity that will both promote the MandM""s(copyright) trademark, will directly promote the sale of the candies themselves, and will keep the attention of children for a relatively long period of time, and for a candy dispenser that is easily transportable in a pocket, purse or backpack.
The present invention is an apparatus for randomly dispensing objects, such as the chocolate candies sold under the MandM""s(copyright) trademark, a kit of parts, and a method for playing a game that utilizes the random dispenser apparatus.
In its most basic form, the apparatus for randomly dispensing objects includes a housing having a substantially hollow interior portion for holding a plurality of the objects and a dispensing opening dimensioned to allow a single object to be dispensed. An object sorter is provided for aligning the objects for individual dispensing through the dispensing opening of the housing. Finally, an actuator is provided for individually dispensing the single object from the object sorter through the dispensing opening of the housing. In operation, the objects are held within the housing and are randomly aligned within the object sorter such that a user will not know which of the objects will be dispensed when the actuator is actuated. The objects are then dispensed through the dispensing opening in the housing when the actuator is actuated.
In the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, the objects are saucer shaped candies, such as those sold under the trademark MandM""s(copyright) Chocolate Candies, and the dispensing opening of the housing is dimensioned to allow a single candy to be dispensed.
The preferred housing has a top portion and a bottom portion that are attached together about the periphery of the housing, a dispensing opening disposed through the periphery of the housing and a fill opening for filling the housing with saucer shaped candies. The top portion of the preferred housing includes a guard member extending downward into the interior portion of the housing, and a pair of sloped portions proximate to the guard member and dispensing opening. The guard member is dimensioned and disposed a sufficient distance from the dispensing opening such that only the single candy may be dispensed when the plunger is depressed. while the sloped portions dimensioned to prevent more than a single candy from entering the object sorter at one time.
The preferred actuator includes a plunger disposed through the top portion of the housing and a slotted post extending from the bottom portion of the housing. The plunger includes a first hollow shaft having an inside diameter dimensioned to fit around the post. A pin is disposed across the inside diameter of the first hollow shaft, extends through an outer surface of the shaft, and is dimensioned to fit within the slot in the post to prevent rotation of the plunger. A spring is disposed within the first hollow shaft and is dimensioned to engage the pin when the plunger is depressed.
The preferred object sorter includes an object opening dimensioned to allow the single candy to be dispensed, a sorting channel, and a second hollow shaft having an inside diameter dimensioned to fit about the first hollow shaft. The sorting channel is dimensioned to align a plurality of candies for dispensing and to accept and align an additional candy when a candy has been dispensed. The second hollow shaft includes a cam slot dimensioned to accept the pin and to cause the object sorter to rotate about the first hollow shaft when the plunger is depressed. When the preferred actuator and object sorter are combined, depressing the plunger causes the object sorter to rotate a sufficient distance to align the object opening of the object sorter with the dispensing opening of the housing such that the single candy is dispensed. When the plunger is released, the object sorter rotates back into position and an additional candy is accepted into the sorting channel.
The kit of the present invention includes a plurality of objects, and an apparatus as described above. In the preferred kit the objects are saucer shaped candies, and the kit includes at least one game card that is dimensioned to accept the saucer shaped candies.
The method of the present invention includes the steps of inserting a plurality of objects into a dispenser, randomly dispensing at least a first object from the dispenser, passing the dispenser to another player. randomly dispensing at least a second object from the dispenser, repeating the dispensing steps until the game is completed, and determining a winner of the game based upon the objects that have been dispensed. In the preferred method, game cards are used and the method includes the steps of placing the objects into the game cards.
Therefore, it is an aspect of the invention to provide a children""s game or activity that will promote the MandM""s(copyright) trademark.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a children""s game or activity that will directly promote the sale of candies.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a children""s game or activity that will keep the attention of children for a relatively long period of time.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a children""s game or activity that utilizes a dispenser that will randomly dispense a single candy at a time.
It is a further aspect of the invention to provide a children""s activity that may be used as a learning tool.
It is a still further aspect of the invention to provide a children""s game or activity that utilizes a dispenser that utilizes a dispenser that requires no external power source. such as batteries or the like.
These aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.